Wage Talks With Norway Offshore Workers Go Into Overtime as Strike Threat Looms

Wage talks between hundreds of workers on Norwegian oil and gas offshore rigs and their employers went into overtime on Tuesday, and could lead to a strike if they fail.

A state-appointed mediation between trade unions Safe and YS and employers’ organisation the Shipowners’ Association passed a midnight deadline.

Some 669 workers could walk out from Tuesday and could potentially increase to 2,250 workers if the conflict is not resolved.

Trade union Safe said it would initially take out 106 workers from the Teekay Petrojarl production ship operating at Shell’s Knarr field, which had a daily production of 63,000 barrels of oil, according to Teekay’s website.

Safe would also take out workers on drilling rigs that conduct exploration or production drilling for oil firms, including 117 workers from the Transocean Spitsbergen; 80 workers from the Songa Offshore Enabler; 71 workers from Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Stavanger and 60 workers from North Atlantic Drilling’s West Elara, among others.

Source: Reuters